maca

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"maca" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“maca” is uncommon English (frequency #73,397 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,397
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.

Corpus desk

Index EN-maca · maca · English

maca · rank #73,397 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,397
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH lurching

Nearest frequency peer: lurching (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “maca”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “maca” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for maca
PropertyValue
Headwordmaca
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#73,397
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maca” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).maca lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

maca is uncommon English at frequency #73,397 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for maca, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa. The correct English form is maca, spelled M-A-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how maca appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The overwhelming majority of maca roots are dried after harvest. In the cold, dry atmosphere of the puna the dried roots remain edible for several years. A minor proportion of the freshly harvested roots are roasted in huatias, earthen ovens […]
  2. The gap between what the Internet promises and what it delivers is part of the reason that people[…] continue to turn to enhancers from caffeine to maca to virtual reality.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa.

This word in other languages

maca(Español)Maca(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "maca"?
"maca" is spelled M-A-C-A.
What does "maca" mean?
As a noun, "maca" means: Any of species Lepidium meyenii, an Andean medicinal herb, or an extract of the root of this plant.
What is the origin of the word "maca"?
Borrowed from Spanish maca, from Quechua maqa. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "maca", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

kuku#73,361Kole#73,349khat#73,342Keim#73,339

What to do next

You've looked up "maca". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #73,397 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list